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Pew: Media not in love with Obama

According to a study, media coverage of Obama has been decidedly negative in recent months.
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“People should be wary of studies that attempt to quantify how positive or negative coverage is, but there is no doubt that being president in such a tough time for the American people is going to come with some tough coverage,” said Bill Burton, a former White House deputy press secretary who is now a senior strategist at Priorities USA.

“When you’re governing, you don’t have the context of a campaign where you can at least get covered in the context of an opposing world view. You just have to take all the arrows that are coming at you.”

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These arrows came thick and fast even in the immediate aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden — a moment in which Republicans briefly praised the president’s success.

Pew holds up an Associated Press lede as an example of how even this political home run was couched in gloom: “A nation surly over rising gas prices, stubbornly high unemployment and nasty partisan politics poured into the street to wildly cheer President Barack Obama’s announcement that Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, had been killed by U.S. forces after a decadelong manhunt. The outcome could not have come at a better time for Obama, sagging in the polls as he embarks on his reelection campaign.”

Meanwhile, even those Republican challengers who have complained loudest about their media coverage have been covered largely positively.

Perry’s wife, Anita, may have made headlines last week by claiming that her husband had been “brutalized and beaten up and chewed up in the press” during the past month, but the Pew data show that over the past five months, no one got better press than Perry. Perry got the most attention of all the Republican candidates, taking up 17 percent of campaign stories, ahead of Romney with 13 percent, and had the highest percentage that was positive.

Readers' Comments (137)

Well it's hard to stay interested when you realize the POTUS is an empty suit. The king has no clothes. Every word that comes out of his mouth is a distortion, a perversion, a purposeful twisting of the truth, or an outright lie.

I will say this though. If this was a republican president, there is no end to the relentless hounding and scrutiny that we would be seeing. 'Fast and Furious,' 'Solyndra', 'Lightsquared,' wars without congressional approval (see War Powers act that Obama supported but completely disregards), etc. There would be cries for impeachment. And with failed economic policies, a foreign policy deficit that makes our national debt crisis pale in comparison...his pole numbers wouldn't be 39% approval, they would be closer to 10%.

So don't be fooled for a minute. The main stream press will step right in line with Obama and forgo journalism for campaigning as soon as the GOP contender emerges from the primaries.

Only the republicans are dumb enough to think the media loves Obama. The media's disrespect for this president is breath taking, they show him zero respect. But regardless of their hate he'll win a second term, and I hope to God he tells the media where they can shove their B.S bias.

Considering this research is fact-based, and the Republicans are still in fact Republicans, they probably won't believe this to be true.

I believe, if you add in blogs, it might possibly be true.

However, here's some questions that, if the media ever ASKED them, I might believe they were trying to be honest brokers.

Without them, they'll just remain his cheerleaders as far as I'm concerned..................

1. Mr. President, it's been estimated that over 60% of the money for your campaign came from Wall Street, and your Administration is stuffed with former employees from there. With that in mind, how do you rationalize both your bailing them out, and demonizing them at the same time?

2. Mr. President, during your campaign, you were heavily critical of former President Bush's policies. Why have you adopted so many of them now?

3. Mr. President. Last year you said that raising taxes in the current economy was a very bad idea. What circumstances have changed today to make you promote taxation now?

4. Mr President, You campaigned on ridding Washington of lobbyists, and transparency. With that in mind, how do you explain your Administration's loans to companies that are substantial doners to the Democrat Party, and making taxpayers responsible if they default?

5. Mr President, you label other people as "Fat Cats," and refer to race fairly often, Do you think you were elected to be the President of all the people, or just the "Fat Cats" who seem to join you when you're at Martha's Vineyard, or another segment of the population?

6. Mr. President, do you think the Government should be using taxpayer's money to gamble on businesses you think should succeed, or do you think that is a more proper role for the marketplace?

When I see the Press Corps start asking questions like these, I'll believe they're no longer "in the tank" for the guy.

Boo hoo...if the media has given Obama any negative press..it is long overdue..maybe they are waking up from the stupor (maybe stupidity) they have been in far too long where Obama was concerned...and I am waiting to hear them blame it on Bush....I have already heard the whining about it being the Tea Party's fault and the Republican's fault..I am just waiting for them to blame it on Bush now to make the whining round-up complete....come on..give us a good laugh now...you can do it..and then to really round it out..the Hollywood crowd can complain ...and what we need to so is stop going to movies and putting money in these people's pockets...we are the stupid ones if we contribute to the salaries of people who insult the American public...I stopped going to movie and have cancelled netflix...Hollywood has de-volved into a culture of true hacks and I dont' support hacks...no talent and no brains...boring boring people who think they have talent but their true talent is for bashing America...and buying into the Obama culture of elitist who declare class warfare and support OWS and it is actually ironic that Hollywood would bash the very people who lend money for films...pull the plug baby and watch them resort to getting a job at the local coffee shop and see who listens to the hacks then..hahahahahhaha.....even a lot of musicians are boring hacks...very few real true talents left out there..poor Simon Cowell having to pretend that people have talent...yawn....

Funny, If they all were being so mean to him I don't remember the Obama administration ordering a freeze out and declaring war on any media other than Fox. Because every other one was on its' knees for Obama. He even joked about turning over in bed and talking to Brian Williams and remarked to a room full of main stream press "I know you all voted for me." This "study" is plain BS.

The press does still have a slanted attitude when it comes to Obama, his agenda, and how they promote him. Sometimes the artiicles are so gross they are blatant pro-Obama propaganda. That's a real disgust because we count on the press to do factual reporting, not be propaganda mills! For the press, it may pay well, who knows? It certainly doesn't serve the citizen. Obama is a failure because he only fights for what he wants to do, and his ideas. Obama has a mantra of how he wants to change our nation and it isn't pleasant. Obama's regulations and laws he's championed and passed must be rescinded. Otherwise, we will never survive as a free people. Take his Jobs Act, for example, involving spending 447 Billion of money we do not have and cannot pay. We do not have the money, but taxing and confiscating the money will due even more damage. Especially with the deficit spending aspect. Who will pay the bill, really? Are the union and government jobs it will bring enough to help the citizen? At what cost, really? We don't need more government, more debt, stronger unions, or stimulus defit spending! We need real jobs! Why is Obama always gone, out his job, campaigning and spreading propaganda about spending plans he knows won't work now and haven't worked before? Been there, done that, Stimulus spending doesn't worl! Why doesn't he stay in Washinton, instead, involved in cutting spending and streamlining regulations and working with the Congress to promote jobs with a better business climate free of government interferences?

The press does still have a slanted attitude when it comes to Obama, his agenda, and how they promote him. Sometimes the artiicles are so gross they are blatant pro-Obama propaganda. That's a real disgust because we count on the press to do factual reporting, not be propaganda mills! For the press, it may pay well, who knows? It certainly doesn't serve the citizen. Obama is a failure because he only fights for what he wants to do, and his ideas. Obama has a mantra of how he wants to change our nation and it isn't pleasant. Obama's regulations and laws he's championed and passed must be rescinded. Otherwise, we will never survive as a free people. Take his Jobs Act, for example, involving spending 447 Billion of money we do not have and cannot pay. We do not have the money, but taxing and confiscating the money will due even more damage. Especially with the deficit spending aspect. Who will pay the bill, really? Are the union and government jobs it will bring enough to help the citizen? At what cost, really? We don't need more government, more debt, stronger unions, or stimulus defit spending! We need real jobs! Why is Obama always gone, out his job, campaigning and spreading propaganda about spending plans he knows won't work now and haven't worked before? Been there, done that, Stimulus spending doesn't worl! Why doesn't he stay in Washinton, instead, involved in cutting spending and streamlining regulations and working with the Congress to promote jobs with a better business climate free of government interferences?

It is obvious the very segregated media is anti-Obama, and have been for quite some time. I contend because of the very nature of the country club, diversity challenged fourth estate it is incapable of properly characterizing this man's accomplishments as well as the?challenges he faces. It is completly unfair, but thank God for Twitter and facebook. There is an alternative view and mode of expression, in contrast to the 24 hr, 7 days a week bashing of the nation's first president of African ancestry by white males.

Second, Obama's approval rating is in the 40's. To give you some perspective, at this time in the 2004 election cycle, Bush was at 53% approval, the economy was singing along and we only had 2 wars rather than the 4 we have now.

Third, perhaps you might try to write in complete sentences. (Your last sentence is incomplete.)

no surprise...it is amazing how much the politics of the United States has been hijacked by the conservative right wing religious fringe in the last few years...I hope that it is only a passing preoccupation for now and that in time the country will come back to its senses. This is the result of many people not being able to accept that a black man can be president. This racist attitude is what is dragging this country down. People need to smarten up and quit being so damned racist and bigoted, including the media which feeds these wrong headed attitudes.

It's not a question of the number of negative stories, but what's in those stories if you want to get the real measurement of Press bias against Conservative Republicans and in favor of President Obama. Stories about Governor Perry and Words painted on rocks are frivilous. Stories about former Governor Romney and whether Mormonism is a 'cult' are frivilous. Stories about Herman Cain not jumping up and dashing to Selma in the 1960's are frivilous. But stories about President Obama and his stonewalling on the Solyndra scandal, or placing his support behind an Attorney General who deliberately lied to Congress about Fast and Furious are NOT frivilous. Anyone see the difference? Obviously the Lame Stream Press can't see the difference, because a story about a Black Conservative not marching for Civil Rights 45 years ago is bigger than a half Billion Dollars of tax payer fraud used to pay off campaign cronies this year, and that's the point. The Pew Poll is incomplete. Sarah Palin is right...again.

LOL, now the Leftist Media are saying that they have given Obambi negative media? Boy, glad I have my boots on, the BS is getting deep! Very few media outlets give honest news and especially the Leftist media, which includes most of them.

I would love to see how this evalution was done...at a detail level...and how the calculations were made. Or, are all these percentages just fabricated numbers....it's so easy to do. After all, if the climate scientists could cook the numbers for their study of global warming, and with a straight face tell us that was appropriate...well, it's really hard to believe any of this was truly objective.

Ever since our president gave his infamous keynote speech at the Democrat Convention the press has basically been in the tank. The coverage in print and pictures was, and is, wall to wall.

And we should never forget that they never vetted this man, and allowed to this day the hiding of all sorts of information that is fully disclosed with everyone else in public service.